Unadulterated Negligence When Deciding to Get Behind the Wheel Drunk

The prevalence of drunk drivers is becoming a big problem. In a survey made by www.alcoholalert.com, alcohol related deaths make up for 37% of all vehicle fatalities that happen in the US. In order to drive safely, one has to be alert, focused, and capable of making quick decisions when encountering certain road conditions; all these abilities diminish when under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol leads to poor judgement, loss of body coordination and delayed reflexes and the blurry vision. More often than not, teen drivers have a much higher likelihood to be involved in a drunk driving accident.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, compiled a drunk driving statistics which gave out staggering facts. Out of 12,998 drinking driving fatalities in the United States in 2007, 1,393 were caused due to teen drinking and driving. About 28% of teenagers killed in motor vehicle crashes were drinking either before or while they were driving. Around 64% of teenagers who were involved in fatal drunk driving crashes were reportedly not wearing their seat belts.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also compiled a drinking and driving statistics that showed more than half of the drunken driving accidents involving teenagers were reported on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. It also showed that about half of these accidents occurred between 3:00 pm and 12:00 am. However stringent the rules are about the minimum drinking age, drunk teen accidents is still rising in number. It is the parent’s responsibility to shape their kids and know their activities and whereabouts. Rules can be bent when parent’s supervision is not implemented as well.

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